If you've seen the film 'The Blind Side', or read the book of the same name, you'll be aware of the game-changing nature of Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor's hit on Joe Theismann in week 11 of the 1985 NFL season. Taylor revolutionised the game in that his presence alone forced teams to invest heavily in left tackles - finding a player to anchor the offensive line and protect their quarterback's blind side became teams' top priority.
In the twenty-eight years since that night, teams have tried - and often failed - to find that man. Some, like Willie Roaf, Gary Zimmerman, Jonathan Ogden, Orlando Pace and Joe Thomas, have been exemplary...but arguably none of them have been as good as Walter Jones.
Ex-Seahawks quarterback and current Seahawks radio analyst Warren Moon explains why Jones was so good:
"Walter just had a rare combination of great feet, but powerful strength - especially in his lower body...that allowed him to not only be able to stay in front of some of the best defensive ends in the league...he also had that power just to come off and just annihilate whoever was in front of him in the running game. So he not only was a good pass blocker, he was a great run blocker, he was a great run blocker as well. He was the whole package."
It's tough to find a left tackle statistically superior to Jones, as over the course of his twelve-year career he didn't miss a single game (playing 180 in total), was selected to nine Pro Bowls - a franchise record - and was a six-time All-Pro. He only drew nine penalty flags in 5,703 pass plays - once every 634 plays - and allowed only 23 sacks in his entire career.
The many quarterbacks who started for Seattle during his tenure - John Freisz, Warren Moon, Jon Kitna, Glenn Foley, Brock Huard, Matt Hasselbeck, Trent Dilfer, Seneca Wallace, Charlie Frye and Charlie Whitehurst - only experienced pressure from their blind side (or in Brock Huard's case, his 'not-so-blind side') only once in every 248 pass plays. It's also no coincidence that Shaun Alexander was named the NFL MVP behind an offensive line with Jones as a permanent feature.
Those are remarkable statistics for a man who enjoyed an extraordinarily dominant career. As a result he was named by The Sporting News as the best player in the game at any position in 2005, was named on the NFL All-2000's team, and this week he figures to be honoured as a first-ballot inductee to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Walter Jones was a once-in-a-lifetime talent, and once-in-a-lifetime talents deserve to be first-ballot Hall of Famers.
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